Intro to egg tempera at Farnsworth

May 09, 2014

The basics of egg tempera will be explored in a Farnsworth Art Museum workshop Saturday, May 17.

Rockland — The Farnsworth Art Museum will host a workshop on egg tempera led by Sandy Nault Saturday, May 17, from 9 a.m. to noon at the Gamble Education Center, on the corner of Union and Grace streets.

Participants in this workshop will learn the basics of painting in egg tempera, the medium often used by artist Andrew Wyeth. In this three-hour workshop, students will make their own egg tempera paint and learn various methods of applying it such as glazing and scumbling.

Egg tempera dries very quickly, allowing one to layer one color over another. This medium has been around since the Egyptians and was perhaps best known during the Renaissance. As part of the workshop, there will be the opportunity to view and discuss some of Andrew Wyeth paintings. Handouts and a resource list will be provided. Participants are asked to bring an apron or an old shirt, watercolor brushes (sizes 1, 2 and 4) and a notebook.

Nault has been a docent at the Farnsworth for more than 10 years, where she often has the opportunity to teach school students how to make and paint with egg tempera. She has a bachelor of fine arts degree from the University of Southern Maine has studios in Lincolnville and New Smyrna Beach, Fla. She paints in various media including watercolor, oil, acrylics and egg tempera. She learned how to do egg tempera painting from well-known egg tempera artist Phil Schirmer of Blue Hill.

Fee for the workshop is $35, $25 for members. For more information or to register, call the Education Department at 596-6457 or visit farnsworthmuseum.org/education.